


Meltdown

by No1DigiBakuFan



Series: Autistic Keith with Helpful Lance [10]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Autistic Keith (Voltron), Comfort, Crying, M/M, Meltdown, Non-Verbal, Overstimulation, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 04:09:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8829958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/No1DigiBakuFan/pseuds/No1DigiBakuFan
Summary: Keith would never admit it, but he hates battle; all the sensations grate on his nerves and it just makes him want to get away, away, AWAY! Lance, as always, has his back though.





	

It was another fight against the Galra, another brawl to free a colonized planet. All of them were covered in their own blood, dirt and some of them had Galra blood. The sounds of battle raged all around; of bombs going off, gun fire, sword strikes, robots being ripped to shreds.

And Keith hated every second of it. The lights were too bright, constantly flashing, constantly distracting, if he didn’t focus he’d die. The sounds went right through his body, too loud, too strong, he couldn’t even hear what the sounds were but the feel of them was deafening. The feel of his sword going through robot after robot made him grit his teeth, it was too rough, too brutal, he was gonna lose his grip if this kept up.

Tears pricked at the back of his eyes and he fought even harder, trying to get it under control; he couldn’t afford to break down now, he was fighting, he needed to stay focused, he needed-

“ **Keith!** ” Shiro’s voice filtered through his comms, “ **It’s over! We won, you can lower your sword.** ”

Keith hardly heard him, but when he focused on his environment again, he realized nothing was coming to attack him, but there was another presence there. He turned around and there was Lance, a few steps behind him to give him space, but close enough that Keith felt safe. None of the robots were rising from the grave and the few real soldiers were long dead, they’d ensured that.

Lance took a step towards him, “Keith, are you okay?”

Keith felt the tears take a hold of him as he shook his head; he must’ve looked a mess, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stand for much longer.

Lance nodded and called through the comms, “ **We hear ya, Shiro, but Keith’s not doing so hot. I’ll take him back to the Red Lion.** ”

“ **Copy that, Lance.** ” Shiro called back, “ **We’ll all meet back at the castle in an hour.** ”

Lance put his bayard away and offered Keith his hand, “Ya need a hug?”

Keith nodded and willed his bayard away.

“Do you want a hug now, or would you feel better in Red?” Lance asked, moving forwards a little more.

Keith pointed at the red on his suit.

Lance nodded in understanding and gently took his hand, “Is this okay?”

Keith nodded again and the tears ran even faster.

Lance smiled and clenched his hand a little tighter for a moment, “Let’s go then.”

The two walked across the battlefield in silence while Keith cried. It could’ve been hours or minutes, but getting to Red felt like it took forever, until they were boarding her.

Once they were in the cockpit, Keith felt Red pur in his mind, trying to offer her comfort and warmth. Keith sniffled and did his best to mentally thank her. She merely continued to pur.

Lance turned around and faced him, “Do you want to take your armour off?”

Keith nodded.

“Do you want me to take mine off?” Lance asked.

Again, a nod.

Lance smiled and started taking the Paladin armour off, leaving the black suits underneath on. He did himself first with Keith’s help, then checked with Keith before helping him do it, too. Lance eased Keith into the pilot seat and raised a hand.

“Do you want me to comb your hair?” Lance asked.

Keith nodded and finally managed a small smile.

Lance started running his fingers through Keith’s hair, being as gentle as he could but working out the knots as he went. Keith leaned into the touch and opened his mouth as if to talk, but then closed it, gritting his teeth.

Damnit, why couldn’t he talk now of all times? The least he could do was thank Lance, but no, his stupid vocal cords had to shut down on him.

“Keith?” Lance called softly, “Is something the matter?”

Keith looked up at Lance. Lance who after finding out about his Autism had done everything he could to make sure Keith wasn’t over stimmed and if he was, Lance would get him out of it. Lance who always thought of him and Pidge and everyone else before himself and did the stupidest of things sometimes to protect them. Lance who, just like the rest of them, had weaknesses that he tried to push down, but encouraged everyone else to be weak around him with hugs, stim toys and his ramblings. Lance who Keith was falling in love with, there was no other way to describe the feeling other than that. 

Lance who was currently staring at Keith in concern that made his stomach flip warmly and squirm in shame at the same time while continuing to run his fingers through his hair to calm him down after another stupid battle they had to fight for the sake of the universe.

Keith started crying again and pulled Lance into a hug, holding him to his chest and rubbing his back in a way that always calmed Keith down and Lance seemed to like. He ran his fingers through Lance’s hair and fought so, so hard to get the words out-

“You’re amazing.”

“Thank you for always having my back.”

“You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met.”

“Thank you for existing.”

“You’re so, so kind, it’s incredible.”

“Thank you for stimming with me.”

“You’re such a good person, why do you hide how you feel when you hurt, too?”

“Thank you for caring about me at all.”

-but they just wouldn’t come, left hanging in the back of his throat and clogging his airways when they should’ve been running around Lance’s head and letting him know how much he was cherished and loved and needed and how thankful Keith was that Lance in his life and-

“Shhh,” Lance murmured into his neck, “it’s okay if you can’t talk. You can tell me later. You’re in the Red Lion and I’m right here. Nothing’s going to hurt you.”

Keith shook his head and grabbed Lance’s face so he could see him. Keith pointed at his own tears then at Lance, prying he’d get the message.

Lance blinked, “You’re crying over me?”

Keith shook his head and made motions of wiping at tears that refused to fall from Lance’s eyes. 

Lance’s eyes widened, “You noticed me crying?”

Keith shook his head again and pointed between the two of them and copying some of Lance’s things from earlier.

“You’re telling me to cry?” Lance asked, mouth by his ear.

Keith nodded and gave Lance a smile. He made the okay sign with his fingers along with the smile.

The tears in Lance’s eyes finally spilled and the two of them clung to each other, crying and hugging it out, rocking back and forth in the pilot seat, doing everything they could in their current states to look after each other.

It took a while, but once Keith found his voice again, the first thing he said to Lance was, “You’re the best thing that’s happened to me in a long, long time.” He looks an exhausted Lance in the eyes as he says this, “But you’re also human and you deserve to have someone to confide in, too. Please, either let me be that person or someone else.”

Lance stared at him, then smiled softly as more tears fell, “You got it.”

The two sat in the silence and held each other close. 

What they hadn’t noticed though was that their Lions had gotten them to the hangar bay of the castle while they were being emotional, Blue standing in front of Red to give the Paladins inside some protection. Blue also told the other Lions that the Red and Blue Paladins were not to be disturbed, who relayed the message to their pilots.

No one saw the two until the next day, when Lance was talking loudly at dinner and Keith was listening with a small smile.


End file.
